This Is Our Final Stand
by Chi Haku
Summary: Ame's thoughts and feelings on the final stand between Zeke and Yoh, from the time Zeke eats Yoh's soul to the end. BASED ON THE ANIME NOT THE MANGA
1. Split Second

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

In a split second, everything can change.

You can have something taken from you, given to you, withheld from you, held in your hands. In a split second everything can become nothing and vice versa and in between.

Time slows and you can't run fast enough and nothing is working no matter how hard you try. Your muscles are all cramped and locked and your bones are so brittle a leaf falling on you would bring you to your knees. Your vision sharpens but your hearing leaves you except for that single, momentary scream from your lips of "NO!" and then it's all over.

I felt this as I watched, just yards away as Zeke gripped Yoh's hair and in slow motion reached straight through his stomach. I heard my scream, but I couldn't hear Yoh's, I saw his mouth open in that silent yell and I knew that his pain was worse than anyone's around me.

Yoh's soul left his body at a snail's pace, lifting, lifting, dragging like molasses from inside his now cadaver of a body. But Zeke gripped him tight, pulled him farther, farther, farther until there was no more soul inside of Yoh's body. And then Zeke smirked and in some distant part of my mind, I, Ame Kurotsuki, knew what he was going to do.

I knew, but my feet could not move, it was like running through quicksand around my legs. I could go no faster, and it felt like it was taking every ounce of my strength to just raise one of my feet. Kuronamida, my precious dragon, remained wrapped tight around my arm, but I barley felt him there anymore. Aisha and Wolfe ran with me, just feet behind me, but I could no longer hear them if they were speaking to me.

As Zeke lifted Yoh's soul to his lips, I felt another scream of "NO!" leave me, this time louder, more frantic, more desperate, but it was too late. The evil twin sucked Yoh's soul into himself, drinking in every bit of my best friend, the boy who was practically my brother. I watched in horror as Yoh disappeared more and more, goner and goner until there was only a sliver of soul left and then…

And then that was gone too, and Zeke was smirking in triumph.

In a split second, my world ended.


	2. Disbelief

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

Disbelief is what happens when one simply cannot comprehend an action or occurrence that has come to pass involving or around them.

Disbelief is not something that usually happens to me, as there is not much that I cannot or will not comprehend. I pride myself on being very good at understand and following things no matter if they be conversations or happenings. Now however, all I can feel is disbelief, because if I tried to comprehend this, I would have to admit the unthinkable, the impossible. I would have to admit Yoh was gone, and he wasn't.

He couldn't be.

"YOU TOOK MY FRIEND AND YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!"

I felt the ground shake with Len's attack, knew it would never hit, never even scratch Zeke, but I knew Len had to do it. He didn't believe this anymore than I did, couldn't believe this.

Yoh was Yoh, he was our friend, our brother, our leader. He held all of us together with ease and kept us close without effort. Without him we were nothing, I was nothing, and I knew that. And that was why Yoh couldn't be gone. Not now not ever.

I watched as Anna rested Yoh's headphones around her neck, the tears boiling in her eyes making her vision blurry.

"Don't listen to Silva." she hissed. "Hit him with everything you have!"

No one needed telling twice, not even gentle Wolfe. His usually calm blue eyes were lit with a fire so bright, even Len would have trembled, had the selfsame fire not been burning in his own eyes. Aisha had summoned Hinoko and Altor stood beside Wolfe, his teeth bared and hackles raised in pure unadulterated fury.

My teammates were all ready to stand fight, to take Zeke down or die trying, but I did not move. Kuronamida remained stationary around my wrist, black coils warm against my skin. I made no move to join my friends in the attack, but stayed beside Yoh.

*Yoh….you're not gone…Zeke said you weren't he admitted you were still here, inside him…*

Without thinking I took Yoh's hand into my own.

*Yoh…please…come back to us…show us what to do.*

I felt, or perhaps, I imagined, Yoh's hand twitch, squeeze, ever so slightly around mine. At that moment, I recalled words he had spoken to me a long, long time ago…

"_Fight for what you believe in no matter what, even if it seems foolish, keep fighting."_

I was standing, furyoku pumping through my body, alerting my senses, awakening not only my yokai side but my dear dragon spirit ally.

"Kuronamida… Are you ready?"

Kuronamida's head raised to look at me.

"As you are Ame."

"Then let's take him down."

Kuronamida rose to his full dragon form, letting out a long yell of fury and charging at Spirit of Fire.

I would abide by what Yoh had told me, I would fight for what I believed in. Only this time, I was fighting to keep this feeling of disbelief, to continue to tell myself that he WAS NOT GONE.

Even if it was a lie.


	3. Clockwork

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

When people think clockwork they think the insides of clocks, but that's not the clockwork I'm talking about. I'm talking about those moments when time slows down or speeds up, comes to a halt entirely or maybe just disappears.

When I watched Zeke eating Yoh' soul, all time slowed down, moved thickly and sluggishly as if it couldn't be bothered. I wanted to fight against the current of time, move faster and swifter, get to Yoh and save him no matter what but I knew I could not. I knew that time was the master of this mortal realm and I was trapped to do his bidding until I departed from this plane of existence and onto the next.

Time left me when I stared at Yoh's face as it paled, as the color left his cheeks and the smile faded from his lips. I watched in a timeless moment as everything I had built my world, my trust, myself, on, all came crashing down around my ears. I could do nothing to start time moving again, make it go backwards, forwards, anywhere, I didn't care. I just wanted to leave this moment and figure out what to do next.

The speed at which time moved as I started fighting was impossible. One moment I was attacking Zeke, and the next I was battling his Shikigami. I had no regard for the other's, didn't even notice any of them. They were naught but a blur of sound and color as I ordered Kuronamida to attack, attack and attack again.

Morty snapped up out of it, took care of a pair of Shikigami that all of us, full grown and trained shaman could not. His focus was impeccable as he drove it into our thick skulls that this wasn't how we were supposed to be fighting. Not like this, not this headlong crazy movement.

No.

We were supposed to be fighting together, as a team, as one, as the unit we were. We had to fight for Yoh, not against Zeke. There was a difference to the terms at which we fought and we had to keep that in mind.

Time slowed to its normal pace once more, as I stood in between Aisha and Len, facing the inner sanctum to the King of Spirits.

My head was clear and time was moving again, the cogs of the clockwork turning, and I could face where they brought us next.


	4. Fear

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

I don't feel fear. At least, I don't like to admit I feel fear. When I am afraid, I put up walls around myself and keep everyone out.

But right now, I was afraid. I was scared out of my mind, and I knew that everyone else knew it. And for once, it hardly mattered, because everyone else was just as fearful as I was, even the great Len Tao.

"I gotcha now!"

I wanted to scream "JOCO NO!" but I wasn't fast enough. Zeke had already destroyed Mic's big oversoul before I got a chance.

"Jaguar IS a delicacy…" Zeke said in his taunting voice. "With serum sauce."

Faust was attacked next and fell just like Joco.

"And pixie on the side."

Lyserg cried out in pain as he met the same fate as the two before him.

"And to wash it all down, a puréed eight headed hydra on the rocks."

Trey, Len and Rio all went down.

"Ah, and of course, for desert, a nice wolf tart, flame baked!"

My eyes widened and I managed to scream this time.

"WOLFE LOOK OUT!"

But Altor had already fallen, leaving Wolfe to fall to the ground with a sickening crunch as one of his arms twisted the wrong way. It had broken before he even fully landed.

The next few minutes of speech making were enough to make me sick but I drank in every word. I allowed my fear to take control of my actions as I simply waited for Zeke to finish his little monologue about Yoh being gone. I felt my chest constricting, tighter, tighter, tighter…

Len laughed.

"You don't get it do you?"

Zeke frowned and my eyes flickered to him.

"What we're talking about is that Yoh is still here with us…" Rio continued.

"Right. He's telling us to stay calm." Faust followed up.

"AND he's telling us to fight without fear!" Trey continued.

I jolted.

Fight…without fear?

_Without fear Ame…_

*Yoh?*

_There's nothing to be scared of…fight without fear._

I rose to my feet again, allowing Wolfe to rest himself, he couldn't fight anymore anyway.

"They're right." I said coolly. "He's telling us we're not alone."

"And to stand strong!" Rio said after me.

"You don't have the power to take him away. Wherever we are, he'll be there too. In our hearts, his presence will make us strong!"

Len's words struck me to the core and I smiled right along with my friends. They were right, of course. This was the time to fight for real, to actually pick up arms and take a stand.

I once more summoned Kuronamida's giant form and stood atop his head with pride, fear gone, because I know Yoh was still there.


	5. Comeback

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

We were making a comeback now. Our words had shaken Zeke, perhaps, even frightened him. As Rio said, his back was against the ropes now.

Despite my warning to stay down, Wolfe had risen again, standing atop Altor, holding his broken arm in a makeshift sling, smirking at Hao as if he were the king of the world. Wolfe would never back down from this fight, and neither would anyone else. This was our time and Zeke was going to have to deal with it one way or another.

"We'll never give up!" Len called as Bason struck at Spirit of Fire. "Not as long as Yoh is with us!"

"Yoh is only MINE!" Hao screamed in fury, slashing out at Bason.

"And that's where you're wrong!" Wolfe said with the same shit eating grin as before.

"If he was only your's," Aisha continued for him. "We wouldn't be fighting here now!"

And then something happened.

As Zeke attacked, scream of rage flowing out of him, he froze, mid yell, the furious sound dying in his throat. He dropped to one knee, keeling over, holding his chest as if someone had just stabbed him. I stared, barely able to believe it, wondering if, perhaps…could it be…

I heard Opacho's small "Uh…oh…" And I turned around on Kuronamida, hardly daring to believe my eyes.

"It can't be…" Zeke muttered.

Everyone watched, transfixed as Yoh, our fallen friend, slowly stood back on his feet, the same soft smile as always on his lips.

"Hey."

….So, classic, classic Yoh. Just "hey", as if nothing has happened.

"So then, I guess we'll just pick of from where we left off."

Yoh met Zeke's snarls with calm comments, breathed as if this were some childhood competition, nothing more than a game.

I couldn't stop smiling.

We had made our comeback and now was the time for the real fight to begin. If Zeke had thought we were annoyingly difficult to keep down before, he hadn't seen anything yet.


	6. Just Another Fight

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

It was as if it were just another fight. Just another day in our screwy shamanic lives. Len was sarcastic and quipped about everything, Rio and Trey got into little mini-squabbles, Yoh was way too laid back, Joco made bad jokes. Hell, it was almost as if Zeke weren't there at all.

The entire atmosphere of the fight had changed. No one was tense, no one was scared, no one was even worried about the homicidal psycho with the enormous furyoku just yards away. To us, Zeke was once more just another opponent who we were going to have to crush.

"You had it made Yoh! Just another few moments and the world would have been ours FOREVER!"

"Who'd want to rule with YOU!" I yelled, my usual taunting grin back in place.

Our fighting continued, our movements fluid and continuous. Yoh rode on Mic with Joco, Aisha on Altor with Wolfe. I circled Zeke on Kuronamida, looking for an opening ANYWHERE for me to be able to…

And there it was.

Trey froze Spirit of Fire's leg with a triumphant "Not too cold for you is it?" and Faust had Eliza inject him with a sedative. Lyserg and Rio caught Spirit of Fire's arms next, holding him firmly in place. I took the opportunity to order Kuronamida to wrap around Spirit of Fire's torso, crushing whatever bone like structure was there. I may not be as good as the 1080, but I could still stop the bastard for a little while.

Long enough for Yoh to make his move, as per usual.

And make his move Yoh did, only Zeke disengaged his oversoul and landed behind us, snapping at Opacho when she(he?) talked. He turned Opacho away with such cruelty, I almost felt bad for the little shaman.

"Opacho…"

In that moment, he looked regretful, and I thought, maybe there is a shred of decency in him. But then he started laughing, and I knew, there was not decency there, no sanity. Nothing, but pure madness and rage.

It was just another fight, and it was just another day. Just another battle that we would, inevitably, win.


	7. Momentary Fear

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

Momentary fear is different that normal fear. Momentary fear grips you so tight inside it feels like you're being crushed. It cancels out every and anything else and leaves you helpless in the clutches of your worst nightmare.

But only in that moment.

I will admit that that momentary fear held me fast as Zeke dove, not at us, but straight at the King of Spirits.

"RIP INTO HIS HEART! DEVOUR HIM!" he cried to Spirit of Fire.

Yoh's words had come too late and Zeke had already reached the lord of all spirits, leaving us to watch helplessly as Spirit of Fire dined.

"That noise, it's horrible, COVER YOUR EARS!" Faust cried.

"Yikes, and your eyes too!"

No one needed to tell me twice, my enhanced hearing having altered me moments before they spoke that I needed to make sure my eardrums stayed in tact. I raised one arm to cover my eyes as the light of the King of Spirits lit up the clearing and watched in horror as Zeke's master plan unfolded.

"Stop it!" Yoh cried in anguish, but Zeke only laughed.

"TAKE HIM NOW!" he cried to his spirit ally.

"How! I thought he needed Yoh to do that!" Lyserg said in shock.

"Do what? I can't see! What's he doing?"

I felt bad for Trey, almost, accept this was a horrible sight that no one should behold.

"He's taking the King of Spirits…" Len answered in a horrified, but awed voice.

And then suddenly the light was gone and the noise was too and Spirit of Fire was inside of the King of Spirits and I knew in my heart that this was where things went wrong.

"ZEKE NOOOOO!" Yoh yelled.

The King of Spirits twisted and deformed, convulsing continually at whatever Zeke was doing.

"It's too late Yoh! The King of Spirits, is mine!"

Beside me, Wolfe swore in Latin as the psychotic reincarnation continued laughing.

As we watched, expressions horrified, Spirit of Fire reemerged from inside the King of Spirits. Only this time, he was huge, golden and much more dangerous than before.

"It's huge!"

"What happened to the "I need Yoh to unite with the King of Spirits"?"

"He pulled a bypass operation!"

And then Kalim announced my worst fears.

"You know what it is, you just don't want to say it. Spirit of Fire is ten times bigger than he was, he has united with the King of Spirits."

Fear gripped me again, and I wondered meekly how it had ever come to this.


	8. The Fate of This World

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

"Now you see, I am the fate of the world! I will burn all those who refuse to bow down to me!"

"Hah! Think so?"

Headstrong Trey, ice shot but hotheaded no matter what.

"First, you have to get through us!"

Over confident Rio, backing Yoh up every step of the way.

"We won't back down, not now not ever!"

Wolfe, the kid who just wanted to find his place in the world, and found it amongst all of us.

Zeke just smirked.

"Die."

I could practically hear the slash rip through the air, as before my very eyes, three of my best friends were taken from me by the cruel man named Zeke. The screams of "NOOO!" from Lyserg and Faust were loud enough to be heard of the thumping of my own heart, which sounded like it was beating inside my very head.

"It is time for you to join them! Ahhahah!"

Faust, Lyserg and Aisha, all gone in one hit.

My throat was clogged, my heart hammering harder than ever. Everything had been going so well and then…then we just hadn't moved fast enough! If we had been a little quicker, we could have stopped him, but…

But now was not the time of sentimentalities. Len had already motioned to me and I knew our next move. While he grabbed the golden Spirit of Fire's head, I wrapped Kuronamida around his chest again, telling my dragon to squeeze hard. Yoh and Joco came hurtling at us and the hit connected.

"Well?" Len cried.

"I think we go 'im you guys!" Yoh cried happily.

But then something happened that we hadn't been expecting.

Fire erupted from where Yoh's sword had connected, consuming all of us.

Even myself.

In the last moments of my consciousness I heard;

"Don't you realize what I've become? I'm all powerful! Soon the Earth shall be free of humans and weak, ignorant shaman. It will be a bold, new, beautiful world."

I hoped that was not the fate of this world.


	9. Out of Body

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

Have you ever had an out of body experience? Like when you're looking down on the world and you see yourself? It's odd, but not uncomfortable like most people say it is.

I watched as Yoh stood once more, sword in hand, raising his oversoul once more for just one more attack. But as I watched Zeke too called forth a new, great power, summoning the full power of the Great Spirit of Fire, releasing him from within the King of Spirits, to move freely and fight.

"Get ready to meet your end, my brother."

I swallowed as I watched, unable to do anything but that, watch. I had no power in this in between place of nothingness. I could only lay eyes on the saving, or destruction of the world. Should it be the latter, I do not doubt that it would be the last thing I saw.

But Yoh rose up, jumped straight back into the battle without care or remorse. He no longer saw Zeke as a brother, but only an evil creature devoted to destruction. He would end Zeke, I knew he would, one way or another, he would.

The final stand had come and I watched, out of body, as the greatest battle in history, raged on.


	10. This Is Our Final Stand

**A/N:** This is in relation to the ANIME _Shaman King_ not the manga, so I will be using the American Anime names so as not to confuse myself and my readers. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MANGA PEOPLE. THIS IS THE ANIME FINALE I'M TALKING ABOUT.

This was our final stand. This was Yoh versus Zeke, this was us versus Zeke, this was the whole damn world versus Zeke Asakura.

This was it. This was now.

"Feel that power? It's the greatest power in the world!"

I no longer feared Zeke and his words. I no longer feared anything. I simply stood about the battlefield, invisible to all, watching as events unfolded. I waited, quietly, patiently, for the out come of this battle. I had sworn to Yoh to see this through to the very end, and I would do it, no matter what.

Yoh batted away a ball of flame only to be punched down to the ground by the Great Spirit of Fire.

"I've waited 1000 years for this power. This power that will wipe humans from the face of this PLANET!"

Not if Yoh could help it.

"This was over the moment Zeke got the King of Spirits…"

And suddenly, I was no longer over the battlefield, I was back on earth, in a lot of pain, but back. I heard Joco's voice;

"What are you talking about Kalim…? This isn't over yet!"

"Yoh's still got a lot of furyoku left. This is far from over. Look!" said Faust.

I twitched my hand and ever so slowly, pushed myself up on one arm, then the other. And just as Faust said, I looked, and I saw my dear best friend still standing, still on his feet after everything he had just been through.

I smiled ruefully and pushed myself up into a sitting position, even though my body screamed for me to stop moving.

"You…" Yoh growled, then shot off.

"Do you not get it yet Yoh?"

But Yoh was far too angry to even care, I could see that. He struck at Zeke and was blocked.

"The Spirit of Fire now contains the King of Spirits. And that makes me UNBEATABLE."

Yoh was smashed to the ground once more.

"Oh no!"

My head whipped around to find Anna knelt between Lyserg and Len, both of whom had apparently just reawakened. Len's eyes flicked to mine and he nodded once, before looking back to the battle. I masked the sheer joy of knowing he was okay in favor of also returning to the battle at hand.

Despite Yoh's desperate attempts to harm the Great Spirit of Fire, he was caught in the thing's hand, slowly being crushed by his cruel, cruel brother.

"The King of Spirits has yielded to me his ultimate power. Which means I am now the king, the king of all I desire."

"No!" Yoh's voice was strained, but powerful as ever. "Whatever power you've gained you took by force Zeke! So don't kid yourself!" he struggled. "You're not a king of anything!"

I could see the discomfit on written on Zeke's face. He was not pleased that his twin was still able to talk back at him.

"You're just a thief!" Yoh continued. "The King of Spirits is not a willing part of you! You control his power but you don't have his heart!"

And I realized then that that could perhaps, be Zeke's downfall.

"That doesn't matter. I have captured and tamed the King of Spirits like a wild animal. And now he will do my bidding, and together we will destroy all that stands in our way!"

Perhaps he could, if only he could see where he was failing. He was losing his cool and Yoh was rallying, if only in words.

"No!"

"Starting right now."

The smirk on his face was enough to make me want to just jump up and sock him, but I could not. It was no longer my fight, only Yoh's. And as I watched, Spirit of Fire squeezed Yoh tight and threw him down at the ground, oversoul-less and half-conscious.

He landed to a great thud and a cloud of smoke, and for a moment, I feared he had not made it.

"Ooouch…"

Okay. He made it.

My heart rate calmed again and I sighed happily. Thank god for Yoh, smiling and laughing even while he got his ass kicked by a maniac.

Zeke however, did not look pleased AT ALL.

"Yoh, I'm going to summon the flames from the lowest depths. I am going burn the very essence of your spirit! FEEL THE FIRE!"

The Great Spirit of Fire let loose a long stream of fire, and I heard Aisha mutter an enchantress prayer. Though I was nonplussed, she probably knew exactly what kind of fire this was. I would not be surprised if it were truly fire from the deepest depths of hell.

But Yoh stood firm, living on inside the boiling flames. I had to gape. What kind of freakish luck did Yoh HAVE…?

"Spirit of Fire….TURN UP THE HEAT!"

Hao cackled madly as the fire worsened.

"Ame!"

Aisha grabbed my arm, Wolfe already supported against her shoulder, pulling me back and away from the battle ground. I landed myself beside Len, leaning back against the pillar, watching the battle continue. Len's hand found mine and I didn't even hesitate before linking our fingers in a death grip.

"He'll make it…" I murmured and Len squeezed my hand, before standing.

"Listen Yoh!" he called. "I will not let you lose! YOOOOH!"

His furyoku left his body in great waves, rushing into Yoh like a great breath of air. I followed his example, focusing only on Yoh and sending out every bit of my yokai furyoku I could.

"You're alone Yoh!" Zeke said. "This is the end. Ashes to ashes."

"YOU'RE NOT ALONE! I'M WITH YOU DUDE!"

Trey followed Len and my example, sending out his furyoku to Yoh. Wolfe followed after, then Aisha, both of them concentrating what little power they had left.

"Here comes your main man! Rio!"

Rio joined in with us.

Zeke was cackling madly, eyes insane, fire growing hotter and hotter…

"Don't give in!"

"C'mon Yoh!"

"We're with you!"

Faust, Joco, Lyserg.

Around us, all the furyoku of all our friends, our one time enemies, people we didn't even know, flowed over us in great waves towards Yoh. Towards the boy we were trusting to save us.

"There's going to be nothing of you left!" Zeke cried, intensifying the fire once more.

Yoh cried out and fell to one knee.

"Good-bye."

"C'MON YOH!"

"YOOOOH!"

Even Manta and Anna joined in with us.

And that was the final straw.

A great light erupted from within the flames, shining brighter than anything I had ever seen. Zeke gaped.

"No…" he whispered, perhaps in awe.

And then….Amidamaru was there, dressed as a full blown Samurai, metal head wear and all.

"What?" Zeke gasped in shock. "You!" he growled. "What are you supposed to be now?"

"I'm not sure." Yoh and Amidamaru's voice spoke as one. "But I think this is how it must feel to be Shaman King."

And how right Yoh was. Everyone, locking their trust onto him had handed over to him the most important element of the King of Spirits; his heart. Just because Zeke had the power meant nothing.

"Just because you have all of them doesn't mean you'll win!"

And the fight was back on again.

They slashed and hacked, Yoh dodged, then struck out. Zeke blocked but was losing ground fast.

"So here we are at the end, and no one has come to help you!"

"I don't need anyone's help!"

Great Spirit of Fire flicked Amidamaru away, but I wasn't worried. We had Zeke cornered this time, YOH had Zeke cornered this time.

"No one wants your Shaman Kingdom Zeke!"

Damn straight, it was the most ludicrous idea I had ever heard.

"No one supports you!"

Not anymore, I think we'd all made sure Luca and the rest were well out of our way by now.

"I don't need anyone to support me, just fear me!"

And they attacked again, Great Spirit of Fire lunging headlong at Amidamaru and Yoh, raking out at them with his claws, while Amidamaru blocked with his sword. Amidamaru jumped up and brought his blade slashing down on the other ally's arm, gritting his teeth.

"Even if you defeat me today, others will rise to fight you!"

"I'll destroy them all!"

More dodging and glancing blows, more close calls and cheap shots. I couldn't tell who was winning anymore. Len's hand was back in mine as we stood there, watching, waiting, hoping and praying for Yoh to come out victorious.

"You're FINISHED!"

"You're wrong Zeke, you're the one who's finished!"

Zeke was laughing again and Great Spirit of Fire and Amidamaru were lunging at each other head on, and this time, I believed it would be the last.

I gasped, without meaning to, as the whole world came to a momentary standstill. I watched in slow motion as Amidamaru's sword came down, slicing cleanly right through the Great Spirit of Fire as if it were butter. I saw Zeke's shocked expression and my whole heart just swelled in my chest like it was a balloon.

Yoh…had done it, hadn't he?

The entire Great Spirit of Fire exploded with a loud bang and flashes of red, yellow and orange light. A huge glow erupted from nowhere, spread out over all of us, bathing us all in white. And then…

Then we were just standing there. …In the middle of the western desert.

*What….the hell?*

I heard everyone muttering then;

"Look! Over there!"

"Dobie Village!"

"It's disappearing!"

"Forget Dobie Village!" all eyes turned to Anna. "Yoh, you just defeated Zeke! Yoh beat him!"

"Huh…" Yoh said in a surprised air.

And then he was chuckling again, classic Yoh.

This was our final stand.

And we were all still standing.


End file.
